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Tiger FB Notes: Senior QB makes significant strides in Week 2
Friday, September 13, 2024
Caruthersville High School quarterback Ryan Guest watches the Tiger defense from the sideline earlier in his career against Dexter at Hopke Field.
Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com
Third-year Caruthersville High School football coach Dom Guglielmo said during training camp that he felt his program had “restored the roar” of the successful Tiger football teams of the past, and the rest of the high school football followers throughout the state must agree because the Tigers climbed to No. 8 in the latest MFCA state rankings for Class 2.
Caruthersville (2-0, 1-0 SEMO Conference South) will host Carlyle (Ill.) today at 7 p.m. Not only will the Tigers be competing on the field, but the school will also be honoring its initial Athletic Hall of Fame class during the game, as well.
On the field, the Caruthersville football program has won six of its last seven games dating back to last season, and the play of senior quarterback Ryan Guest is a big reason for that success.
Guest had a shaky season-opening game against St. Pius X, as he threw three interceptions, but in fairness, he hadn’t played a game in 10 months.
In the Week 2 rout of Malden, Guglielmo saw a lot of growth from his quarterback from one week to the next.
“We stayed in Ryan’s wheelhouse a little bit more,” Guglielmo said. “The (run-pass options) are great for him. He threw a couple of screens.
“He settled in.”
Guest completed 10 of 14 passes against the Green Wave for 201 yards and five scores.
Throughout last week, Guest kept jokingly asking Guglielmo ‘Is today Friday?’
“He wanted to use those (Week 1) interceptions as a springboard,” Guglielmo said. “He moved better in the pocket last week than he did this week.
“I was really proud of him.”
Guest hooked up with senior pass-catcher Jermonte Alexander, who nabbed seven throws for 149 yards, and four of those receptions went for scores.
Prepare to battle
The overwhelming majority of Tiger fans won’t know much about Carlyle High School’s football squad, but Guglielmo does after spending last weekend studying hours of film.
“They are hard-nosed,” Guglielmo said. “They are a small community, and you can see farms in the background of their football field, so you know, by proxy, that they are going to be physical.”
Guglielmo said that it is imperative that his defensive front seven continue to play well, as it has through the first two weeks of this season.
“They have some big boys,” Guglielmo said. “They are a double-wing-T (scheme) team, so they are going to try and control the clock on us with long, four- and five-minute drives.
“We have to continue to live on the other side of the line of scrimmage in both offense and defense.”
As expected, Tiger senior linebacker Oscar Dominguez continues to play well.
Following an All-SEMO Conference season last fall, Dominguez had 13 tackles against Malden to lead his team, which has gotten a boost from sophomore linebacker Tre-Sean Mays.
“Tre’Sean is a beast,” Guglielmo first said this off-season but reiterated that point this week.
“Our linebackers move laterally really well,” Guglielmo said of Dominguez, Mays, (sophomore) Chazmon Thomas, (junior) Maxwell Hunter, and (junior) Jackson Napier. “When they get their hands on you, and they hit you, you know it.”